State track notebook: Rittman's Hartzler second to Welsh for third straight week

By ANDREW VOGELSports WriterPublished: June 8, 2014 4:00AM

COLUMBUS -- Rittman's Tresa Hartzler had a great strategy to win the state championship in the 1,600 and executed it to perfection.

Unfortunately, St. Thomas Aquinas' Athena Welsh was simply just a little better.

Welsh timed a 5:02.98 at Saturday's Div. III State Track and Field Meet at Jesse Owens Memorial Stadium, just ahead of Hartzler, who took second with a 5:04.75. She ends her career with her third All-Ohio finish, taking seventh in the event as a freshman and fourth as a junior.

It was the third straight week the Indians' distance standout finished behind Welsh. At the Norwayne District, Welsh clocked a 5:05.46 and Hartzler was at 5:05.97. The following week at the Fairless Regional, Welsh notched a 5:12.73, ahead of Hartzler's 5:13.27.

"Going in, we thought she'd have a chance to win, but it was going to be tough," Rittman coach Matt Snyder said. "Race-strategy wise, we tried to push it as hard as we could push it and believe that when everybody's exhausted, her heart is so big and she'd have what she needed to push.

"She executed it really well," Snyder said. "Athena's a really great runner. Tresa can go home knowing she did the best she could and end her career that way."

Because Welsh has such a great kick down the stretch, Hartzler, whose time was just off her area record of 5:03.82 she set as a junior at regionals, knew she had to push it during the second and third laps. She led during the second lap, but eventually Welsh overtook her on the last 800 meters.

"We were right there," Hartzler said. "I took the lead on the second lap, but then she got ahead of me."

Hartzler said there was certainly a friendly rivalry that developed between the two standouts the last three meets.

"I knew she was a great runner," Hartzler said. "If you can run against a great runner the whole way through, it helps you along. If you don't have anyone pushing you until state, it's harder to drop time."

Hartzler, who was named the Wayne County Athletic League MVP last month as the Indians won the county for the first time since 1973, goes out as the greatest distance runner in school history and arguably second-best runner behind Crystal Barber, who won five gold medals over the course of her career. As much talent as Hartzler had, what will be missed most is her leadership.

"It's easier to replace a first-place finisher than it is to replace the character of a kid like that," Snyder said. "We might win the county in a lot of the same events she ran, but you can't replace the type of person she is. She is team-first all the way and cares about her teammates."

As Hartzler graduates, Maddy McDermott may be in the next in line as a standout who can score points in a number of events. McDermott was fifth in the 300 hurdles (45.28), breaking her own school record and dropping more than 3 seconds since she ran a 48.6 as a freshman.

"She learned what it took as a freshman and then applied it as a sophomore," Snyder said. "She came up big in every spot we had her in. She has the ability to be phenomenal across the board. I could run her in any event and she'd be good at it."

POORMAN ALL-OHIO IN TWO EVENTS -- Another trip to state and another trip to the podium for Smithville's Maggie Poorman.

The junior, who took eighth last year, moved up five spots Saturday in Div. III, clocking a 57.56 to take third. Poorman competed in the 200 in Columbus for the first time and made another trip to center track for a medal, placing eighth (26.16).

Even though Poorman was seeded first in the 400 going into the weekend, she kept her expectations simple.

"I made the podium, so I reached my goal," she said.

The Smithie said that running in the state meet in 2013 certainly makes things easier the second time around.

"This year I was more calm," she said. "I knew there'd be a lot of people and I just ran it like I always do. This time I wanted to have fun with it."

Even as she goes into her senior year as a defending top-three placer in the event, Poorman's mindset as a senior won't change.

"I just want to make it on the podium," she said.

LEWIS RIGHT BEHIND BEERY IN THE 400 -- The breakthrough sophomore season for Waynedale's Ant-juan Lewis is now complete.

Now, as Trevahn Beery graduates, Lewis seems poised to take the mantle as the WCAL's standout sprinter.

Lewis took eighth in Div. II in the 400 with a 49.53, capping a season in which he's already set the school record in the event with a 49.3. To Lewis, what's even more impressive than times or records, is the lofty company he joined at the state meet.

"It's unreal to be here with Trevahn and all of them," he said. "They're superstars and you're one of them now. It feels so good to be here."

RIDER QUARTET ALL-OHIO FOR THIRD TIME IN FOUR YEARS -- Red Rider Tradition is alive and well.

Joel Zook, Kevin Lyons, Blake Dennis and Elijah Coleman timed a 3:23.86 in the 4x400 relay to take sixth. At a school with plenty of tradition on the track, it is the third time in four years Orrville has had a sprint relay team finish in the top eight. Coleman and Zook were on the 2013 4x2 quartet that finished seventh (1:31.60), while Zook was also on the eighth-place 4x2 squad in 2011 that clocked a 1:30.80.

That also makes Coleman and Zook three-time All-Ohioans, as Coleman was third in the 400 (49.13) a year ago. It was the first All-Ohio nod for Dennis and Lyons.

BOBCATS' FUTURE IS BRIGHT -- The adventurous, sometimes unpredictable, season for Terry O'Hare's young sprinters ended on the podium.

The Bobcats weren't able to match their prelim time (50.20) from Friday, but it was still good enough for eighth in the 4x100 as Sarah Wertz, Kierra Graham, Reese Stahl and Riane Stahl timed a 50.70. For Riane, it makes her a two-time All-Ohioan after being a part of the 4x1 and 4x2 quartets that took second and third, respectively, in 2011.

The elder Stahl is graduating, but the future is bright for O'Hare's squad. The rest of the 4x2 returns, as does all of the 4x4, which also qualified for state. With plenty of balance and a strong cohort of young sprinters, the Bobcats are the favorite in the WCAL next year.

Andrew Vogel can be reached at 330-287-1624 or avogel@the-daily-record.com. Follow him on Twitter at @andvogel.